Seven for a Secret
by Ultrawoman
Summary: One-Shot, based in a 'verse created by x. Hardys and Horcruxes .x - An anniversary party, family dramas, love in the air, handcuffed relatives, and a surprise announcement. What more does anyone need? With Literati, JavaJunkie, and family fun!


**A/N: Okay, so this is getting posted. I wrote it a couple of weeks ago, and then I bottled out of sharing. It's based in my friend's 'verse. her screenname is x. Hardys and Horcruxes .x and she has written an awesome series of one-shots that began with 'Apology' and continued on, spanning the years from the end of the show to the present day (give or take). This one-shot which I have written is not technically canon and may very well be contradicted by x. Hardys and Horcruxes .x later, but that's okay, because regardless of that she has given me permission to post it. If you like it, please do let me know in a review ;)**

_**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and othe folks that aren't me; parts of the plot and additional characters of this fic belong to my good friend x. Hardys and Horcruxes .x but she has given me permission to borrow them ;)**_

Seven for a Secret _(8th February 2014)_

"Could you at least try to look a little bit like you want to be here?"

Rory Gilmore-Mariano didn't know what she was going to do with these people and would be quite happy not deal with either of them when they were in this mood. Since they were her husband and her step-sister, she really didn't have a choice, but grumpy Danes/Mariano type people never made for good company!

"Give me a reason, please, any reason at all, why I even needed to be here?" April countered. "I barely know your grandparents, Rory."

"No, I know that, but you know me and Jess, and your Dad and my Mom are going to be here and it'll be fun and..."

She was floundering and they all knew it. Jess was fighting a losing battle with a smirk when he realised just how badly. He'd like to rescue his darling wife, he truly would, but he wanted to be here at the Gilmore mansion tonight about as much as April did. Besides, Rory was cute when she floundered, always.

"You're not helping," she snapped when she noticed the look on his face.

"I wasn't trying to," he shrugged easily. "But if I were, I'd remind April that the last time we didn't invite her to a party, she pitched a fit the like of which I'd personally never seen before from anyone over the age of five," he explained, stepping from his cousin's side to Rory's and putting an arm around his wife's shoulders. "And the time before that there was the 'phone bill to California' incident."

"That was years ago when Chris was still an entire country away from me. So not a problem anymore," she reminded them, complete with over-the-top eye roll as she reached in her pocket for a cigarette.

Rory squeaked and Jess immediately reacted.

"Outside," he said, bodily moving April towards the door that led onto the patio.

"Geez, what's your problem?" she checked as she allowed herself to be manoeuvred out. "It's not like you've ever really kicked the habit anyway."

"You really think this surprise anniversary party is going to go well if Emily comes home to find her upholstery smelling like cigarette smoke? We'd all be hanging from the nearest tree before daybreak," he told her plainly, closing the glass doors behind her.

"Thank you," Rory sighed as her husband returned to her. "I didn't mean to..."

"It's fine. She thinks we're saving everybody another fight with good old Grandma."

"Don't call her that," she admonished, slapping him lightly across the arm.

"Yes, dear," he smiled even as she walked away to go deal with the latest planning a party crisis.

It still amazed Jess to know that Rory, his Rory, was carrying his child. It had taken it's sweet time to happen, almost a year and it was not the lack of trying! Still, it had been worth all the effort - like any young couple were ever going to complain about that - and today they found out it had happened.

Finding out today meant all Jess really wanted to do was celebrate with his wife in the privacy of their own home, since no announcements were supposed to be made until after the first trimester. That was a good eight weeks away yet, but that was fine by Jess. A little alone time with his wife would've made him happy. He supposed tomorrow night would do just as well to celebrate as tonight, especially after all the effort Rory had put into this party. Her grandparents were celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary (everybody knew Emily would want to plan her own 50th anniversary celebration so no surprise would be possible!), and Jess idly wondered if he and Rory would ever make it that far. Short of death, he couldn't see anything else tearing them apart, not after everything else they'd already been though.

Feeling his eyes on her, Rory turned around the moment her conversation was done and met Jess' gaze. They shared a smile but nothing more and Lorelai could be heard calling to them from the hallway.

"Mom! You're the decoy!" Rory yelled as she rushed at her, Jess following on behind. "You're supposed to be keeping Grandma and Grandpa in Stars Hollow until eight!" she complained loudly.

"Oh, that won't be a problem, sweets, believe me," her mother started to explain with a smile that Jess didn't like the look of somehow. "Er, see, Ritchie was showing Daddy and Grandpa his new magic set. One minute it's all a handkerchief out of a hat and pick a card, the next thing I know Luke and Richard are handcuffed together, Emily is screaming, Ritchie is crying, and the world as we know it ceased to exist!"

Rory was stunned by the news and Jess was too, the problem being that his shock was being outdone by amusement that he just couldn't control He tried his best to hold the laughter in, but when April wandered in catching most of the conversation and burst into fits of giggles, Jess couldn't help but give in. Rory wasn't far behind, and that made Lorelai crumble too.

"Oh my God!" she was still gasping five minutes later, reaching for the furniture to keep herself from completely doubling over. "I've been holding that in for sooo long!" she declared, still laughing heartily. "It was just so funny, Luke cuffed to Dad and Dad to Luke, and Richard is so sure Ritchie has the key and it'll all be fine, but Luke already knows, he just knows that darling boy of ours has the same scatterbrain his Momma does. That key is long gone, no chance of finding it, ever! I just had to get out."

"Under what excuse?" Jess was curious to know.

"Meh, there was so much screaming and fuss, I barely needed one," Lorelai waved away all concern. "I did say something about going to find a locksmith or a hacksaw or... Nobody was listening anyway," she shrugged.

"Well, this is all just going great," Rory rolled her eyes, as the doorbell rang. "And now the guests are arriving. Please somebody tell me this isn't going to be a disaster!"

"It's not," her husband assured her, his hands at her shoulders, eager to release the tension building there, for the baby's sake as much as Rory's own. "Take a breath, put April to work, use your Mom if you have to," he said, smirking at the two put-out women on either side of his wife. "I'll drive back to Stars Hollow, free The Defiant Ones, and make some excuse to get your grandparents over here in time for the shindig."

"Have I told you lately that I love you?" sighed Rory.

"I'm sure you have," said Lorelai, encouraging the couple to part, "and that there's no one else above him too," she smiled, manoeuvring Jess towards the door. "Now, let's get this show on the road! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

_1 hour later_

The party was in full swing. It had been a little rocky in the beginning, and though Rory had tried to remain calm throughout, she hadn't quite managed it when Richard and Emily finally showed up, both ranting about what had happened with Ritchie, Luke, and the handcuffs. Thankfully, both had enough grace to behave when they realised they had come home to a surprise party. Rory still wasn't sure how Jess had got them all here without any further issues, or even how he got them out of the handcuffs. In some ways she would rather not know right now.

"Rory, my dear, you've done such a wonderful job. What a beautiful surprise!" her grandmother had told her with a huge smile and a hug so tight, Rory couldn't quite breathe.

"Indeed, what a lovely thought," her grandpa agreed. "I'm... I'm very touched," he told her, offering a hug of his own.

Over the course of the ten minutes that followed, Rory was sure she had been called every positive adjective by her distant relations and her grandparents friends. She was an angel, a darling, a sweetheart. They had no idea she was also a pregnant, tired, stressed out young woman who would rather be sitting down with a cup of (decaff) coffee than mingling amongst all of them with a glass of wine in her hand that she dare not even sip.

It occurred to her that she might excuse herself for a moment, and she wandered over to where Jess was in deep philosophical conversation with Richard to ask if he wanted to accompany her somewhere quiet a while.

"Oh my God, I know!" April was saying into her cell from the other side of the couch, a little too loudly since she was garnering all kind of attention, including that of Emily Gilmore, and she didn't look happy either. "Clara, that's why I sent _you_ the picture! He's some cousin or other or Rory's, I think, but I have Chris so there was no way I wanted his number for myself, but I figured..."

She stopped talking abruptly when she realised how many people were staring at her. Rory winced, knowing there was no way to avoid an Emily vs. April confrontation. This was all she needed right now.

"I'll have to call you back," her step-sister said to Clara as she hung up the phone. "Hi," she greeted Emily with an over-the-top smile.

Rory hurried to step in between them, a moment before her grandmother exploded.

"Grandma, you remember April, Luke's daughter?" she re-introduced quickly. "She's really glad to be here on such a special occasion."

Emily's eyes narrowed but not so much at April as on the couch and then the French doors. She looked around a little, apparently sniffing the air.

"Uh-oh," said Lorelai from somewhere behind her daughter - she knew what was coming.

"Can you smell cigarettes?" she asked the assembled group. "I'm sure somebody has been smoking cigarettes in this room!"

Jess got a hold of April's arm and manoeuvred her away, muttering for her to go spray some perfume or something before Emily got anymore suspicious. His cousin made a big deal of huffing and sighing, but she did as she was told. Luke's arm fold and severe looks probably helped convince her she should.

"Kids, huh?" Jess rolled his eyes and yet he was smiling widely.

Luke wasn't sure what to make of that. His nephew was a lot happier these days than he ever had been as a teen. He was making a good life for himself, writing his books, living as a happily married man with Rory. Luke was proud of Jess and happy for him, but something was up. There was too much smiling going on. As happy as he was a not small part f the time these days, Jess just never smiled this much, never.

"What is with you?" he asked his nephew out-right.

Jess shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm happy. Why, aren't you?" he checked.

Luke considered the question and then smiled himself because he couldn't help it.

"Despite the tie, the huge volume of Gilmore relatives, and the crappy music?" he muttered. "Yeah, I'm happy enough."

The guys shared a smile knowing 'happy enough' didn't even began to cover it. Sure, life was never one hundred percent perfect, because there were always problems and trials to face, but it was pretty damn good right now. They both had the girl of their dreams for a wife, and a family surrounding them the like of which they never thought to be a part of once upon a time. No reason really not to be happy.

"Hey, sorry to cut in," said Rory as she appeared at her husband's side. "Can I borrow you for a sec?"

Jess didn't mind being taken away by her, especially when he realised they were leaving the party a while. Rory moved quickly through the throngs of guests, Jess' hand gripped in her own. They slipped out through a side door into the cool night air where nobody would see them. Illuminated only by the moon and a few fairylights that had crept into this area of the garden, Rory looked oddly pale. Jess couldn't quite decide if it was just that lighting making her look that way or if she really was feeling faint or something.

"I just had to get out for a while," she admitted, stepping into his arms and enjoying a comforting hug. "Everything on the buffet table made my stomach turn over, I was running out of excuses why I didn't want a 'real' drink, and... This feels good," she sighed, leaning all her weight on Jess.

"Maybe we can get out of here sooner rather than later," he suggested, kissing the top of her head. "Say you're feeling sick or something. Hell, say I'm feeling sick. It wouldn't exactly be a lie after your Aunt Moira spent a half hour hitting on me. I mean, it's not like she doesn't know that I'm married, and a century younger than her!"

Rory laughed at that, bringing her head up off his shoulder. Honestly, Jess was just happy to see her smile like that. She had stressed too much a about this party and he didn't like it, especially not now she was carrying his child.

"That's better," he said, lifting her chin with one finger, leaning in to kiss her lips. "You gotta start taking things a little easier, Mrs Mariano," he reminded her. "Can't have Junior suffering."

A gasp caught the attention of both parties right before they were about to kiss again. April was framed in the doorway with her hand over her mouth, an unlit cigarette visible between her fingers. She had clearly been looking for a private outdoor spot for a smoke, and instead had stumbled upon her cousin and his wife right when they mentioned the baby nobody was supposed to know about it.

"Damn!" Jess cursed, knowing what a blabber-mouth April could be.

What made it worse was that Luke had clearly followed his daughter, knowing what she was up to and appeared a second later to read her the riot act about smoking... again. Rory floundered, not knowing what to do.

"Damage control," said Jess, grabbing April by the wrist and hauling her outside, encouraging Luke to step out to. "I'll be back, stay here," he said as he headed back inside.

Five minutes later the total number of people on the small patio area outside of the party was seven. Rory, Jess, April, Lorelai, Luke, Richard and Emily were gathered in too tight a circle, the latter complaining how wrong it was to have abandoned all their guests in such a way.

"Mom, please," Lorelai urged her to let it go. "The faster you let Rory and Jess tell us why we're out here - as if I haven't already guessed," she grinned at her daughter, "The sooner we can get back to being socially acceptable!"

"You know?" Rory gasped at her mother's words.

"C'mon, kid. I'm your Mom. We have a sixth sense for this stuff."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" asked Luke.

April giggled; "She totally is."

"Would someone actually tell us what it is everyone else is saying or thinking?" asked Richard, clearly frustrated by the whole situation.

"Yes, grandpa, I'll tell you," said Rory, taking a deep breath, glad of Jess' hand wrapped around her own. "The fact is, and it is way too early to make this announcement, and I so didn't want to steal all the thunder on this special day, but... I'm pregnant," she admitted at last.

"Oh, honey!" Lorelai gasped, rushing to her daughter for a hug. "Congratulations!"

Turns were taken in more hugs and hand-shaking. It was quite a mess of love and adoration, until finally Lorelai faced Jess with a severe look that he wasn't quite certain was as fake as it ought to be.

"You slept with my daughter."

"Well, we are married," he pointed out, going so far as to flash his own wedding band in her face. "Hey, you think you're freaked out? Ever since Ritchie was born, I had to live knowing there was proof that my uncle has sex with my mother in law."

Lorelai's expression shifted unattractively as she thought that one over.

"We really are a twisted family," she said to Luke who hovered at her shoulder.

He just smiled and rolled his eyes at her.

"We actually figured it out," said Rory then, as her grandparents and April returned to the party, letting her give full attention to Luke and Lorelai. "Our baby will be able to call you two both grandma and grandpa _and_ great aunt and uncle, and both will be correct."

"Grandma?" Lorelai gasped.

"Grandpa?" her husband chimed in, looking equally as stunned.

"We're so old," she wailed the, turning into his arms.

She was only playing at being mortified, Rory and Jess both knew that and couldn't help but laugh as Luke played at comforting her. He was offering to buy her a stair lift and a zimmer frame as they too returned to the party, leaving Rory and Jess alone again.

"Well, that went better than I thought actually," she considered.

"I guess," he agreed with a nod as she turned into his arms again.

"Now, where were we before that interruption?" asked Rory, eyes sparkling as she leaned in closer.

Jess kissed her firmly on the lips then, and nothing else mattered.

The End


End file.
